The Shinkansen was just amazing. Silky smooth ride at breakneck speeds...and it looks really cool too. The weather in Kyoto is a lovely sunny break from the rain that had settled down on Tokyo. We walk straight to our hotel, The Atelier Sakura Terrace, which is only blocks from Kyoto Station and is absolutely wonderful! They even have a selection of coffees and teas complimentary 24 hours a day. After availing ourselves of a delicious cup (or two) of the aforementioned free java, we take the subway (using our Pasmo cards) to the Nishiki Market where a plethora of street food, restaurants and trinkets line the streets. We try some grilled catfish stuffed with cheese (delicious!), a tempura rolled omelette (yummy) and a baby octopus stuffed with quail egg (disgusting). With a little confusion provided by google maps, we finally get to the banks of the famous Kamo River running through the middle of Kyoto and cross over into the historic Geisha district of Gion. While we don't see any Geisha this time, the area is really cool and we happen upon the Yasaka Shrine which is both gorgeous and free. We also make sure to hit up Sana
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Wow, that was our first trip on the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train.
What do you think?
So smooth.
Boy, that thing is fast.
Great way to see the scenery, too.
Hello!
Arigato!
That puppy wastes no time getting up to speed.
Made it to our hotel.
Kinda cool.
This'll work, huh?
Very pretty.
Star Trek wood panel doors.
It ain't big, but it's nice.
This hotel is already scoring points.
Three different types of coffee included.
You put them in the little hand grinder.
Then you have a choice of either French press or pour over.
They also have, like, ten types of tea and books.
Got our first cup of coffee down.
Time to go out and explore.
It's not morning, by the way.
It's, like, four o'clock in the afternoon.
So we got our Passport cards in Tokyo.
Even down here in Kyoto, they're working on the subway and the trains down here.
We are at Nishiki Market.
Sushi-themed jewelry.
Very nice.
It's catfish?
Yeah.
Oh.
Can we get one with cheese, please?
Oh, wow.
That is good.
So many of the stands here have samples.
Oh, it's like a pickled radish.
It's like a little omelet.
Really good.
Okay, I don't eat octopus anymore.
But Kate's going to try the candy baby octopus with a quail egg stuffed inside of it.
Squid, on the other hand, I'll eat for days because they're evil.
So do you feel guilty that that beautiful little octopus had to sacrifice so you could try some street food?
Yes, because it's not that good, and I'm really sad about that.
Healthy ice cream.
Black sesame.
Creamy.
It's not bad, but it's not my favorite.
I need my ice cream to be sweet.
This is not sweet.
This is more like eating sesame seeds.
Well, that is the end of the Nishiki Market, which is it.
That was really cool.
Lots of good food in there to try.
Really touristy, but still worth going to.
There's a lot of cool stuff.
Yeah.
Sweet.
Out.
Japanese Wendy's.
This is the famous Kamo River behind us.
It's a creek.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to go rafting on it because you couldn't.
We're heading over to Gion or Gion, the famous geisha district here in Kyoto.
So hopefully we will see some real live geisha out on the road scampering about their duties.
We'll see.
These little streets and alleyways are just awesome.
Just packed with little places to eat.
You don't always believe everything that Google Maps tells you.
Because that last thing was not the Kamo River.
That is the river.
Much more fitting.
We're in Gion.
A lot of people rent kimonos and walk around in traditional dress.
I don't think we will, but it looks cool.
This beautiful building behind us is the Yasaka Shrine.
We haven't seen any geisha yet, but that's okay.
They're out doing geisha business.
Probably at Starbucks.
We are wandering off to our next district to explore.
And I don't remember the name of it, but I'll say it when we get there.
Search with an S.
Or a K.
Or maybe both.
I know it's Search with an S.
So the Yasaka Shrine we just left was free.
Uh, no.
Fine.
Would be fun though.
It's just amazing here.
Some of our best adventures are just wandering around.
Alright, we got the name.
It's Sanaizaka.
It's pronounced terribly, but it's Sanaizaka.
Now we're walking up Kiyomizu-zaka.
And this moon comes out.
Holy cow.
It is gorgeous.
That, by the way, is the first horn I've heard honk since we've been in Kyoto.
The ever-famous Hello Kitty.
Hello Kitty.
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No, no, that was good.
